The hlgh biological productivity of the Hurnboldt Current System (HCS) off Chile supports an annual fish catch of over 7 mill~on t. The area is also important biogeochemically, because the outgassing of recently upwelled water is modulated by contrasting degrees of biolopcal activity. However, very few field measurements of primary production and planktonic respiration have been undertaken within the Eastern Boundary Current (EBC) system off Chile. In this study an estimate of primary production (PP) and surface planktonic commun~ty respiration is presented from several research cruises in the HCS and adjacent oceanlc areas. The highest production levels were found near the coast correlating closely with known upwelling areas. Both gross primary production (GPP) and community respiration (CR) showed important spatial and temporal fluctuations. The highest water column integrated GPP was measured in the southern and central fishing area (19.9 g C m-2 d-l) and off the Antofagasta upwelling ecosystem (9.3 g C m-' d-'). The range of GPP agrees well with values reported for Peni (0.05 to ll

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